Truly a trip down memory lane!
Looks familiar, doesn't it? It all started with this green pipe... The journey to become the Super Star. Maybe you even forgot all about it. That's OK... It's been such a long time, after all. Travel through this pipe, and that journey begins again!
—The game's intro cutscene
Mario Party Superstars is a video game developed by NDcube and released worldwide on the Nintendo Switch in October 2021. It serves the twelfth mainline (i.e. home console) installment in the Mario Party series.
Continuing the back-to-basics approach to the traditional Mario Party formula that began with its predecessor (Super Mario Party), Superstars goes further by not only revisiting the idea of remaking 100 minigames* from all numbered installments as first seen in Mario Party: The Top 100 (including minigames already brought back there), but also remaking boards from the first three games.
The game's overarching theme is that of nostalgia and legacy, as the playable characters are invited to revisit classic boards and have fun partying on them once again; as usual, Bowser will plan to ruin their fun at every possible opportunity, but like in Super Mario Party this won't escalate to serious degrees. Toad serves as the host for the boards, while Toadette is the one who sells the Stars; Toad also hosts the additional modes, which in turn can be accessed via Minigame Plaza. The boards available are: Yoshi's Tropical Island and Peach's Birthday Cake from the original Mario Party, Space Land and Horror Land from Mario Party 2, and Woody Woods from Mario Party 3. The boards retain all their original features and gimmicks, but their presentations have been revamped to take advantage of the Switch's stronger engine; some characteristics that weren't originally present in the boards of the first game, such as usable items and the shops that sell them, were added to said boards as well. The number of minigames contributed by each game, counting the Item-based ones, is as follows: 12 from the first, 21 from the second, 27 from the third, 8 from the fourth, 10 from the fifth, 12 from the sixth, 6 from the seventh, 2 from the eighth, 4 from the ninth, and 3 from the tenth.
Some new features have been added as well. During board gameplay, players can post stickers showcasing reactions reflecting the current events and situations, such as surprise, disappointment or joy. Some stickers are available from the start, while others can be purchased in a shop run by Toad by investing the Coins reunited in Party Mode (including those received by trading the Stars gathered) and various other modes. Other goodies that can be bought in the shop include encyclopedia descriptions for characters (both playable and non-playable), boards and games; music tracks from the boards, minigames and game modes; and finally posters to decorate the player's profile card (called Mario Party Card, which can be submitted online). Another new mechanic is the option to postpone the conclusion of a party session: Once five or less turns remain, a player can choose to add an extra number of turns to the initial total; doing this will revert the changes stated during the Last 5 Turns cutscene until a later point, and the game earnestly recommends the player to seek agreement from the other human players who are participating before confirming the execution of this option. Finally, when a board is played for the first time, it's possible to buy its music so the player not only can hear them in the Sound Test, but also choose whether to make that board play either its modern remix or the original version in any next party playthrough.
Like Super Mario Party, the game supports online play (but unlike that game, it was released with this feature from the get-go, rather than receiving it with a post-release update).
This game provides examples of:
- Achievement System: There are several feats that can be done across the various game modes to make stars shine in a night sky seen through Kamek's crystal ball in his Data House. They range from relatively easy (like earning 3, 5 or 7 stars during a party session), going through long-term which require playing the game frequently (like landing on an Event Space 30 times or depositing coins in the Koopa Bank 50 times), to very difficult (like reaching Level 99 in Stick 'n' Spin or getting a S rank in every 1-vs.-3 minigame when playing Trio Challenge). Meeting achievements grants titles and namesakes that the player can later use for their Mario Party Card.
- Adaptation Name Change:
- The main menu takes place at Village Square, the town that also served as the main menu of Mario Party, which was originally called Mushroom Village.
- The minigame Shell Shocked returns from both Mario Party 2 and The Top 100, but is now called "Tread Carefully".
- Just like in Top 100, the minigame Mush Pit is a remake of a minigame from Mario Party 3 originally known as Toadstool Titan.
- The minigame Money Belt from Mario Party 6 returns under the new name of "X-Ray Payday" to avoid confusion with the similarly named "Money Belts" from Mario Party 4, which also appears in this game.
- A minor example, but some minigames now have a hyphen in their names, such as "Slot-Car Derby" and "Night-Light Fright".
- All or Nothing: One of the special modes in Mt. Minigames has three characters attempt to defeat a fourth, solo character in a series of 1-vs.-3 minigames. They must defeat the solo player in all minigames present, which means that losing in just one of them will render the solo player the winner instead.
- Alliterative Name: The minigames Mushroom Mix-Up, Crazy Cutters, Tipsy Tourney, Dizzy Dancing, Bumper Balls, Mecha Marathon, Bowser's Big Blast, Honeycomb Havoc, Snowball Summit, Cheep Cheep Chase, Rockin' Raceway, Messy Memory, Parasol Plummet, Dinger Derby, Leaf Leap, Pushy Penguins, Bill Blasters, Pokey Pummel, Flash Forward, Rapid River Race, Piranha's Pursuit, Tidal Toss, Boulder Ball, Coconut Conk, Spotlight Swim, River Raiders, Tackle Takedown, Skewer Scurry, Handcar Havoc, Dungeon Dash, Balloon Burst, Picking Panic, Puddle Paddle, Dungeon Duos, Rocky Road, and Mass Meteor. Additionally, Woody Woods returns as one of the boards. Averted with Shell Shocked and Toadstool Titan, as they were renamed to "Tread Carefully" and "Mush Pit" respectively. Also averted with Bobbing Bow-loons and Winner's Wheel, as all Item Minigames are now unnamed.
- Artificial Stupidity: The CPU players don't seem to know what to do whenever they get the Custom Dice Block item, as they will typically use it to land on unnoteworthy spaces that don't give them any advantages, and often don't even use it to roll high numbers.
- Asset Actor: In any minigame that featured Koopa Kid in their original appearance (such as Quicksand Cache or any of the item games), he is replaced with Bowser Jr.
- Big Boo's Haunt: The board Horror Land from the series' second game makes a return. Like before, it's a spooky village with many branching paths where the flow of time is taken into account, shifting from night to day (or vice versa) every two turns. The main difference from its original version is that Big Boo (who is capable of stealing coins ans Stars from all rival players) has been replaced by King Boo.
- The Bus Came Back: Birdo returns to the Mario Party series as a playable character for the first time since Mario Party 9.
- Button Mashing: Some of the minigames that rely on pressing repeatedly a button (usually A) are brought back for this game: Piranha's Pursuit (1, solo player only), Balloon Burst (2), Cheep Cheep Chase (3), Eatsa Pizza (3), Pokey Pummel (7),
- Challenge Run: Some of the achievements that make stars glow up in Kamek's crystal ball require performing difficult feats like reaching Level 99 in Stick 'n' Spin (which is also time-consuming) or winning all minigames in a party playthrough.
- Demoted to Extra: After having been playable in Super Mario Party, Bowser and all of his troops return to their original roles as non-playable characters that appear during certain minigames and board events.
- Evolving Title Screen: The title screen changes to reflect whichever of the five boards was played most recently. Each title screen depicts each of the ten playable characters doing different things around the board.
- Flawless Victory:
- There's an achievement that asks the player to win a party playthrough after winning in all minigames disputed.
- In Trio Challenge, the three main players must win against the solo rival in every minigame showcased in order to win. The solo rival only has to win once to claim victory. In the second three levels of the Trio Challenge, the exact opposite occurs, with the solo player needing to win every minigame to succeed, whilst the trio rivals only need one victory.
- Gameplay Grading: The performance of the trio who plays against their solo rival in the 1-vs.-3 minigames is graded in each of them depending on how quickly they manage to win or how many of them are left. For obvious reasons, the grading is only done when the trio does win in each minigame, since a victory from the solo player ends the mode instantly.
- Gimmick Level: Horror Land retains its unique day-and-night mechanic, making it stand out from the other boards which have a more traditional flair.
- Gold Fever: The mode Coin Battle has all competing players play minigames to win as many coins as possible, and whoever gathers the most wins the challenge. Fittingly, the mode takes place inside a mining cavern, which they stroll within while riding a minecart.
- Group Picture Ending: Once the final results of a board have been announced, the players are given a photograph of all the participating characters around the board. The character crowned Super Star will be front and center, celebrating their victory, while the other three will be doing different things in the background, with the character that came in last place typically getting humiliated in some fashion.
- Level Ate: The level Peach's Birthday Cake from the series' first game makes a return. Once again, it is portrayed as a gigantic cake around which the board path goes in a straightforward direction to the Star (which is always sold in the same place). The main difference from its original version is that the path to Bowser's area has been moved from the area before the Star's placement to the area after it.
- The Lost Woods: The board Woody Woods from the series' third game makes a return. It continues being a vast, idyllic forest that is for the most part both a lively, friendly area where Woody lives; but in the northwest, there's a more sinister landscape guarded by Evil Woody. The main difference from its original version is that the paths through the Skeleton Key gates have been reversed.
- Luck-Based Mission: There's a surprisingly low number of minigames reliant on luck in this game, likely due to their historical infamy. Among the few such games are Bowser's Big Blast (2, as each player has to avoid pressing the plug that makes the bomb detonate, without knowing which ones does) and Hide 'n' Sneak (3, as the solo player has to guess where the other three are hiding). The game does, however, bring back the game-changing Chance Time board space after a long absence.
- Megamix Game: The game brings back a total of 100 minigames from the numbered Mario Party games (plus 5 special Item minigames from the second and third games, for a total of 105), and goes further than The Top 100 by also bringing back boards from the Nintendo 64 installments.
- Mercy Mode: There's a feature that allows the player to invoke this trope. During Party Mode, once the Last 5 Turns begin being played, the game provides the option to postpone the end of the party session by five turns, which becomes handy if the player needs to plan a comeback. The game advises the player to seek agreement with whoever they're playing with (if there's more than one human player present) before making use of this feature, and it can only be used once per party session. Also, the randomly-triggered effects for the Last 5 Turns will be reversed until next time their threshold is reached again.
- Mini-Game Credits: The game's credits roll while an album showing minigames from across the history of the series pages itself. At first, the minigames' pictures are shown as taken from their original versions, but tapping them will update them with this game's modern graphics.
- Mooks, but no Bosses: While many minigames involving mooks are brought back for this game, none of the boss minigames from Mario Party 9 or 10 are present, nor are any of the Bowser fights from other games (The Top 100, which was conceived with the same premise as Superstars, still had the Mario Party 4 Bowser fight).
- Musical Nod: The victory fanfare for each minigame is lifted from the game in which it originally debuted (in the case of Mario Party 1, the one used for all its revisited minigames is the "success!" version, replacing the solo, team, and "perfect!" versions; Mario Party 2, the team version, replacing the solo version; and Mario Party 3, the solo version, replacing the team and duel versions).
- No Ending: While the game does have an intro cutscene establishing a limited storyline, there is no campaign or definitive end goal, so the players are free to just party to their hearts' content. The game's credits are unlocked by reaching a specific party level (namely 70) instead of completing a particular mission.
- Nostalgia Level: Not only does the game bring back boards and minigames from past installments in the series, but also the iconic Hub City from the very first Mario Party, Village Square.
- Our Lawyers Advised This Trope: The instruction screens for the original Mario Party minigames that require rotating the control stick advise players not to use their palm to spin it. Doing this was a common practice among players in the original Nintendo 64 version, and doing so could lead to getting blisters or lacerations, which caused many players to take legal action against Nintendo. This notice was likely put to prevent facing a lawsuit.
- Palmtree Panic: The board Yoshi's Tropical Island from the series' first game makes a return. As before, the board is divided into two islands connected by two bridges, and many overgrown fruits like watermelons and bananas can be found in them. The main difference from its original version, besides the addition of an Item shop (neither items nor shops existed in the first game) is that the Bubba that originally swapped the placements of Toad and Bowser has been replaced by a large Cheep Chomp (and Toad himself is replaced by Toadette as the Star seller).
- Racing Minigame: Several racing-based minigames from across the Mario Party series make a return in this game: Piranha's Pursuit (1), Bobsled Run (1), Handcar Havoc (1), Slot Car Derby (2), Sky Pilots (2), Rockin' Raceway (3), Vine With Me (3), Motor Rooter (3), Trace Race (4), Later Skater (5), Tube It Or Lose It (5), Rocky Road (6), and Rapid River Race (10). There are other minigames that technically count as races as well, but they operate under other tropes or concepts.
- Retraux Flashback: Each board is prefaced with Koopa Troopa providing a description of the board and the events that occurred on them the first time Mario and friends went there. These descriptions are accompanied by screenshots taken from each board's respective original game.
- Rhyming Names: The minigames Trace Race, Night-Light Fright, Later Skater, and Eatsa Pizza. Additionally, Money Belt from Mario Party 6 was renamed to "X-Ray Payday". Averted with Hammer Slammer, as all Item Minigames are now unnamed.
- Skeleton Key: After a 21-year-long absence in the series, the Skeleton Key makes a return to the series. It can be found and used to open locked doors in Space Land, Horror Land and Woody Woods, and is absent in the other boards (as those hail from the first game in the series, where neither keys nor any other items appeared at all).
- Songs in the Key of Panic: When only five turns remain, the board's theme changes into a more foreboding version (if the option to postpone the party's conclusion by adding extra turns is used, then the music will revert to the standard version until only five turns remain again).
- Space Zone: The board Space Land from the series' second game makes a return. It's once again portrayed as a large, thriving space station guarded by Snifit officers. Not much has changed in terms of gameplay or gimmicks, but the event when Bowser's laser cannon activates (when the center of the board is passed by a total of five times) now has a foreboding music, and players no longer wear space suits.
- Stargazing Scene: The achievements that can be completed during the course of the gameplay are represented in a night sky as stars that form constellations. When an achievement is met, its star shines; it's possible to see these constellations from Kamek's crystal ball in the Data House, and they're modeled after objects like a Warp Pipe, a Dice Block, or a Super Star. Looking further up in the sky reveals an extra constellation shaped like a crown, whose stars represent online achievements.
- Taunt Button: During the boards, players can post stickers they have collected to display various reactions that can be seen by the other players. Additional stickers can be bought in Toad's shop, though some will only be available after the player reaches a certain Mario Party level. The stickers don't provide any other advantages.
- Theme-and-Variations Soundtrack: Each board features three versions of its associated music: A modern remix that plays as the default, the original version which can later be switched to after the board is played once and its music is purchased in Toad's shop, and a special version with a more dramatic pitch and style that plays when only five turns remain.
- Unlockable Content: The player earns Mario Party points by playing party sessions and other game modes, and these points increase the player's level. Every 10 levels, new content like reaction stickers and Encyclopedia stickers become available for sale in Toad's shop (they can in turn be bought with the coins gathered in the game modes). Notably, reaching Level 70 unlocks the game's credits for free, viewable in Kamek's Data House.
- Villainous Breakdown: The further the player(s) progress(es) in the Trio Challenge levels, the more Kamek's smug act srarts to wear off. His impatience is present with each victory, and he loses it when the team or solo player is on the last minigame for that level.
